Things that go Bump in the Night
by JamesLuver
Summary: There's something moving in the night, and James doesn't know what it is. He doesn't want to know, either...


**A/N:** Originally this was going to be the first chapter in a set of drabbles. However, having already written a couple (the first will be appearing soon), I've decided it doesn't really fit in with the theme of those said drabbles. I don't want this to go to waste, though. Therefore I'm posting it as a plotless, unoriginal oneshot. :P

**Disclaimer:** "Not mine!" I cry.

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><p><em><span>Things that go Bump in the Night<span>_

James did not generally fear the dark – at least not when there was a fire burning merrily and his two friends were close. Tonight, however, the fire had long since died a valiant death and Meowth was missing. And if there was one thing that James hated more than nights like these, it was things moving in nights like these; there was something strange about the atmosphere tonight. Jessie had long since retired with a drowsy goodnight, snuggling deep into her sleeping bag for warmth, but James had been unable to follow her into a dreamless respite tonight. Something was preventing him from sleeping, and that something was at this very moment prowling around the outside of their little campsite, just out of the range of the lavender haired man's eyesight. He had briefly considered waking Jessie a few times, but the thought of her smacking him round the head with one of her mallets was not one that he relished, so he'd reluctantly forced himself to stay exactly where he was, jerking his head around whenever he thought the thing had changed its position so that he could attempt to blindly track its progress.

Trembling with fear, he sat bolt upright, peering into the darkness with emerald orbs filled with terror. Judging from the gentle breaths floating from Jessie's half of the camp, his teammate hadn't heard the thing prowling around the vicinity, and of course there was no Meowth to wake – the scratch cat had not returned from his jaunt to the nearby city. What was a boy to do? It could be anything; the first thing that sprang to his mind was a wild Pokémon. The incident with the Aerodactyl was still fresh in his mind, and he shuddered with genuine horror at the rather unfounded thought that the creature had escaped from its resting place to gain revenge on them for awakening it. Or perhaps it was a ravenous, feral Arcanine, a creature with huge paws and fangs, a creature that hadn't eaten in days and planned on making the Team Rocket duo its next meal…James could imagine it leaping forward and piercing his skull with its strong fangs before crushing him with its large paws to finish the job…or maybe it was even a Gyrados that had no problem navigating the land – with James' unlucky streak when it came to that particular temperamental Pokémon, the chances were not that unlikely…

Unless, of course, it wasn't even a wild Pokémon. Which led him to his next fear: the Boss. He, Jessie and Meowth had messed up a lot recently. What if he'd grown tired of their failures and had sent someone out to take care of them? A rational part of James' mind tried to tell him that the Boss wasn't barbaric enough to send assassins after them, but the irrational part told him the rational part to shut up so that he could panic in peace. Or, what if Cassidy and her partner, the one with the funny name, had manage to get out of prison and were hell-bent on revenge for them getting put in the slammer in the first place? Somehow this terrified James even more. Jessie was a tough cookie, but Cassidy was colder and more calculating than even she was. And her partner (had his name been Biff?) looked tough, as though he could handle himself in a fight. James was many things (including devastatingly handsome, his inflated ego couldn't pass up the opportunity of adding), but tough was sadly not really one of them.

But then it could be the cops…every Officer Jenny in Kanto had their wanted posters plastered across their notice boards. One of them might at this very moment be loading her gun with a bullet, taking aim, getting ready to fire and end their miserable lives…or else they might be wanted alive so they could be tortured beyond the normal realms of pain in order to break them and get the darkest secrets of Team Rocket out of them…and then they'd be thrown into prison to rot for all eternity…

And then the worst thought of all hit James.

What if the thing stalking just outside of his periphery vision was Jessibelle?

James broke out into a cold sweat at the mere thought. She would have her vile Vileplume with her, not to mention that dreadful whip. She'd probably get the Vileplume to stun him so that she could drag him away into the night to marry her. She'd whip him into shape and force him to become the perfect husband. He'd be forced to perform marital duties, share a child with her…

James' imagination ran wild with the possibilities as he sat as still as he could, staring wide-eyed into the night for the smallest glimpse of whatever the thing was. It was as though his every sense had been heightened: he could feel every tiny breath of wind as it blew teasingly down his neck; he could hear every tiny twig which snapped beneath the thing's weight. His eyes strained through the darkness, desperately trying to see, and then…

…And then he saw it.

Something with huge blue eyes was staring at him.

James squealed shrilly and scrambled away, tripping over Jessie in his haste. She awoke with a yelp of her own, arms flailing.

"James, what the bloody hell are you doing!" she shrieked, but James had clamped his hand around her wrist and was too busy trying to pull her away to safety to give her an answer. Growling audibly, Jessie twisted her head to see what had caused her partner to react in such a way, her eyes falling onto the mass of stalking fur. She gave a squeal of her own, and clung to James as she realised they had nowhere to go. Both humans were now whimpering pathetically. The thing stalked ever closer, and Jessie and James clamped their eyes forcefully shut, shivering and clutching each other tighter than ever.

_At least if I'm going to die_, James thought feverishly, _the last thing I saw was Jessie._

A snicker.

Slowly Jessie and James opened their eyes, not yet ready to loosen their grips on each other. The thing stepped into the light.

"Meowth!"

"Daaat's right!" he confirmed, tilting his head to one side. "What are youse two doin'?"

They leapt apart as though they had been scalded, Jessie adding a smack to James' head for good measure.

"And don't sneak up on us like that!" she growled at the scratch cat, giving him the same treatment she'd bestowed on James as she stalked past him back to her sleeping place. Meowth looked at his lavender haired comrade, who only shrugged sheepishly.

"Think I'll turn back in, too," he said, shuffling off after Jessie.

"Humans," Meowth muttered, unable to comprehend how Jessie could be so touchy-feely one moment with her partner and then screaming at him the next. "I don't t'ink I'll ever be able ta understand 'em."

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><p><strong>AN:** I bet that wasn't obvious. :P

I am still working on my other _Pokémon_ works. Updates for those shouldn't be too far behind now. Maybe. Anyway, please leave a review.


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